Villain: The Epilogue

A/N: Wrote the last half of this chapter between back and forth hospital and ER visits with my girlfriend. This chapter is for her. Feel better soon, Mamasita.

Chapter 5

Cherry awoke early the next morning. She had a hard time sleeping all night long, worrying about her sister. It was only five in the morning, but when she went downstairs to get a glass of water she discovered that her mother was already awake.

Blossom sat at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee. From the worn look on her face, it was evident that she hadn't gotten much sleep either.

"Good morning, Mom," Cherry greeted as she entered the room.

Blossom glanced over at Cherry as the red Puff stood beside her at the table. "Good morning, Dear," she sighed.

"Mom, it's going to be okay," Cherry tried. "You said you know where Cat is right? We just have to go and get her."

Blossom massaged her forehead. "It's not exactly that simple, Cherry." She looked to her daughter, who stared back at her with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't want to tell any of this to Candy, okay? She's so emotional, and she's already so worked up about the situation. I just wanted her to have some sort of hope by telling her I know where she is."

"So you don't know where she is?"

"No, no I do. I'm certain she's there. It's just… where she is, isn't the safest place."

"How do you know this, Mom?" Cherry asked as she sat down beside her mother at the table. "Look, I know you're hiding something, so just tell me. We saw Jojo's picture on the signs and Cat saw it on the news. She said that they were showing her photo next to this 'villain' girl and we figured it out that it was a younger Jojo. What does Cat have to do with her? Mom, what do you have to do with her?"

"You girls are too smart for me," Blossom laughed a little and shook her head. She looked at her daughter, and saw herself. She knew that if she was in her daughter's situation, she would not have much respect for herself. She hidden things for too long, and now suddenly, everything was spiraling out of control.

It was time to come clean. At least, as clean as she could get for the time being.

"I was created in a laboratory by Professor Utonium. You know this."

"Right, just like you created us."

"Right," Blossom nodded slowly. "It was me, and my sisters: Bubbles and Buttercup."

"Buttercup?"

"Yes," Blossom sighed deeply. She hadn't said the name aloud in a long time, but it was one she would never forget. They were sisters after all. "We fought crime together- just like you and your sisters- for 10 years. For 10 years, we were unstoppable. But one day, Buttercup just… left."

"Where? Why?" Cherry waited. Her mom turned her face away from her. She was silent for a long time. "Mom? Mom?"

Blossom wiped the tears from her eyes before facing her daughter again. Her attempt at hiding her emotions was failed.

"What is it?" Cherry gaped. She rarely saw her mother this upset. "What happened to your sister?"

"Cherry, I fear the same thing may be happening to your sister that happened to my own."

"What?"

Blossom laughed a little. She didn't know why, it just escaped her. She took a long sip of her coffee and began:

"The night before she left us, I came home and my sister Bubbles was in her room crying. She said that our sister Buttercup had gotten mad at her and yelled at her. Poor Bubbles had bruises on her arms and everything. She would never tell me exactly what happened that night, but from how upset she was, I knew it was something serious.

I tried confronting Buttercup on my own, but my father wouldn't let me. I didn't get to speak to her much that night, but I watched her speaking with the Professor. She looked different. I don't know how to explain it, she just looked different. When she came inside, she was laughing. It was like she had snapped. She had always been a mean person when she lost her temper. And she had always lost her temper very quickly. Only this time, it was as if she had lost her temper and was mean, and… I don't know. I always eventually forgave her, because I thought her temper was something she had a difficult time controlling. But that night… she was in control. I could just see that she was. She was in control, and… mean. And she wasn't stopping.

The very next day, I was eating lunch at school when I heard a bunch of commotion. I looked over and saw a huge crowd of kids, and in the middle of it all was my sister Buttercup. I was used to her getting into trouble, but as I made my way over to her, I heard it…

She was laughing again. Just like the night before. I knew then that the laugh wasn't just unsettling to me, because everyone looked on with fear. I made my way through the crowd. 'Buttercup! What has gotten into you lately?'

She didn't answer me. She just laughed some more and started kicking and throwing lunch trays left and right. I remember being in just… total shock. I stared in disbelief for a long time. I remember thinking: 'This is not my sister.'

I confronted her again. I tried taking a different approach. I thought maybe something serious was happening to her. Maybe she was having a mental breakdown? I tried to understand. I tried to sympathize with her. "Buttercup…" I said and she's still kicking trays and ignoring me.

'Buttercup!' I whispered loudly. 'Buttercup, stop this!' I pleaded. She finally gave me her attention, but that malicious grin of hers was still there. It sent a chill down my spine. 'Stop this right now!'

I felt like I was speaking to something I couldn't see. I wasn't speaking to my sister. I was talking to this invisible and evil force that had come over her. I was talking to some sort of demon that had yanked her out of her right state of mind.

'Oh, but Sister!' she laughs at me. 'I was just about to answer your question! Don't you want to hear my answer?' The way she still smiled. It froze me in place- I was in complete shock to see this sort of behavior.

'Oh and I have another question to answer too!' she announced. She looked over me at the crowd of our classmates. She made them jump with fear with that look in her eyes. And I could tell that she enjoyed it. 'What happened to Mitch Mitchelson?' she said, referring to the death of school mate of ours. He had mysteriously died the night before. 'Isn't that something you've all been wondering?' she continued, 'Yeah, I heard you all talking. About how Mitch was so great and Mitch was so much fun… Mitch Mitchelson was an idiot! He thought he could get away with being the leader of all your little tormenting ways day after day! He thought that there wouldn't be any consequences! Well, wouldn't ya know it? There are consequences.'

I felt it before she even said it. I closed my eyes and held my breath, and braced myself for the worst. The words finally came, via a sharp and painful shock throughout my entire body. I felt it, and then she said it:

'Good old Mitch learned that last night. Oh yes. He learned his lesson, but sadly for him… it was a little too late. I killed Mitch Mitchelson. I beat him dead. I killed him. It was me."

As the pain of her statement still rang throughout my body, I opened my eyes again. Sure enough… this was happening. My sister Bubbles stared at me with pleading eyes. I knew she wanted me to say that it was all a dream. But it wasn't.

Everyone in the room was freaking out. I have no other way to describe it. It was complete chaos. My sister Buttercup had always been one to hide in the shadows. She was the quiet, odd girl. And now this quiet, odd girl was speaking her mind… and it was something no one saw coming.

But it couldn't be true. I wouldn't accept it. She was having a breakdown. She was seeking attention. She was lying to get attention. That had to be it.

My sister shot her laser eyes to bring the room to silence again. This caused me to snap out of my shocked state. I grabbed a hold of my sister and yelled at her, 'Stop this!' I was desperate.

'Stop what?' she asked with that laugh.

'You're acting crazy! Now stop it! Stop these lies!' I pleaded with her.

'Lies?' she says. 'Lies?' And she laughs again.

'You have to be lying,' came a squeak from behind me. Bubbles approached our sister slowly. Tears streamed down her face, and she shook like everyone else in the room. 'You wouldn't kill someone, Buttercup…. You couldn't…. I know you would never do something horrible like that.'

'Oh, Bubbles,' Buttercup said and started to pet Bubbles' head. For a moment, I thought it was ending. Bubbles had a way with Buttercup, I never did. But then Buttercup says: 'Well that just goes to show you,' she continued, brushing her hand through her blonde hair, '…Just how much you don't know me!' Before I can react, she rips a large portion of Bubbles' hair right from her head and throws her to the ground.

It caught me so off guard. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even think. I just stared at Buttercup.

'I'll say this!' she shouted. 'Mitch Mitchelson got what he deserved! And soon you'll all get a taste of what he got! That, I can promise you!'

And she laughed. Another chill ran down my spine. She laughed and then she left. It took me several moments to pull myself back to reality. My body felt heavy, and time ran slow. I helped Bubbles onto her feet. 'Come on,' I told her, and we rushed after our sister.

We chased her and yelled for her to stop repeatedly, but she ignored us for a good ten minutes.

"What?" she finally turned around and screamed.

"Where do you think you are going?" I yelled. I opened my mouth to try and ask her what all that back there was about, but I was interrupted by my cell phone.

It was the Mayor and there was an apartment building on fire. 'The building's going to collapse any moment now and there are still souls to save! Hurry!' the Mayor told me.

Worst timing ever, but as you know, when duty calls… duty calls. I promise the Mayor we'll be right there and turn to my sisters. 'Let's just put this behind us for now, and we'll discuss it later,' I said. I felt bad saying it. I felt guilty. But I had no choice. 'Right now we gotta go!'

'I ain't going nowhere,' Buttercup answered me with a nasty scowl.

'What? Why?' I said in return.

'You heard me,' she said.

'Buttercup… we have to go save all those people,' Bubbles said. 'They could get hurt… or worse….'

'I ain't saving no one!' she yelled. 'Not anymore! Now, you two can go on and save the day. Me? I won't have any part in that stuff anymore.'

I stared at her and she laughed some more.

'So what is it, Miss Leader?' she mocked me. 'That building must be about ready to give way any moment now. You gonna go save 'em? Hm? Be the hero? Be loved? Forget about your sister, yet again?'

It's the leader's job to make tough decisions. We're required to make them, no matter how unfair it looks on both sides. We don't always make the right ones, but we try. It's hard. The clock was ticking. People's lives were at stake. It was our job and duty to protect the citizens of Townsville. Any moment then, about a hundred souls could have been lost. And so I made the call.

'Come on, Bubbles….' I said without taking my eyes off my sister Buttercup, 'We've got work to do.'

And we left her behind.

I wouldn't see her again for three days… wreaking havoc and destruction along side one of our oldest and most evil enemies. His name was Mojo Jojo."

Blossom looked to her daughter. The young girl had tears in her eyes.

"So you think because your sister ran away to Mojo Jojo, Cat has done the same only to her?" the young girl asked quietly.

Blossom nodded. "I know it sounds crazy. Your sister… although she has her temper… it seems unlikely she would follow the same path. However, I never expected the same of my sister. Never in a million years.

It was like she slipped farther and farther away. I always think back to that day, just before she ran away. What if I had sacrificed the lives of the persons in that fire? What if I had put Buttercup first? Maybe I could have stopped this evil that transformed her so quickly.

Maybe Buttercup would still be here, and Jojo would not."

Cherry blinked at her mother. She tried to fit the pieces together as fast as possible; finally, it fell into place: "Jojo… is your sister?"

She could not answer aloud. It was too hard for Blossom. All she could do was nod her head and take another sip of her coffee. "Cherry, we must rescue your sister from her before it's too late. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Jojo, I think you should see this."

"What?"

Princess sat up in bed and used the remote control in her hand to turn the volume up on the television across the room. Jojo adjusted her belt buckle as she finished getting dressed that morning, and rejoined her sweetheart on their bed. She looked to the television and saw a photograph of Cat on the news. There was also a photograph of that scrawny middle school teacher she had hurt. Both photos were on either side of a stern faced reporter.

"At 6:24 AM this morning, Drake Collins sadly passed on while under intensive care at Neighborfield Memorial Hospital. Exact details of his death have not been released at this time. However, witnesses say that even after being heavily sedated, Mr. Collins remained delirious, hysterical and inconsolable. Since the time of the accident, up till just before his death there were reported, quote: endless screams of pain, coming from his hospital bedroom. The exact cause of death, at this time, is unknown.

Again, if you are just tuning in, it was young Cat Utonium of Neighborfield who brutally attacked her middle school teacher yesterday afternoon. And now, at this hour, he is dead."

Jojo stared at the television set. She looked over to Princess who nodded her head. "It's all true," she said.

"But she said she just broke his fingers. How do broken fingers lead to death?" Jojo blinked.

Princess shrugged.

Jojo stared at the TV set again. She thought long and hard. "Something's missing here," she mumbled to herself. She bit her fingernails as she pushed her mind to focus. She couldn't figure it out, no matter how hard she tried. Finally after several minutes of pushing her brain power to its limit, she stood from the bed and made her way out the door.

"Oh, let the poor kid sleep in a little more, Joey!" Princess called after her, but she was already gone.

Jojo did not knock before she entered the room. Cat woke up with a jolt when the villain shouted: "Wake up! It's time for your training!"

Cat stared at her from where she sat up in the bed.

"Well, you said you wanted to be a villain, so it's time to start. Get up," Jojo said, and she turned to leave the room. "I expect you to be ready in five minutes."

When Jojo shut the door to the room behind her, she found a very irritated Princess standing there with her arms crossed. She was still in her nighties and she frowned. "That was totally unnecessary," she said turning her nose up, and continuing on her way.

"Unnecessary? You're the one always nagging at me to take over Florida already so you can own god damn Disneyland! You know, that might happen a little faster if this whole thing works out, Princess."

"It's Disneyworld!" Princess corrected from the other room.

Cat found herself in a large, mostly empty room. There was some gym-looking equipment, but not a lot. She stood there, across from the villain Jojo, still not knowing too well what to think of the entire situation. Princess was there, too. She sat to the side, watching quietly.

"Show me what you did to your teacher the other day," Jojo said, crossing her arms.

Cat stared at her.

Jojo kneeled down to her level. "Just show me," she said holding out her hand. "Broke his fingers, right? How?"

Princess scooted to the edge of her seat. She had the same idea that Jojo had. Clearly, Cat did more than just break his fingers. The man was dead now. Whatever she did, was something strong and powerful- something villain worthy. She normally would be getting her weekly pedicure that morning, but she cancelled to be with Jojo. After all, if something went wrong, she might be able to fix it. Princess just had a strange feeling that something was about to be discovered. Something big. Jojo insisted that she didn't need Princess's help, but what if it was more powerful than expected?

Cat raised an eyebrow at Jojo and stared at her extended hand.

"It's alright," Jojo reassured her. "Just do it, just like you had done it before."

Cat gulped and slowly took Jojo's hand and propped it up like her teacher had had it up the other day. She stared at the villain's hands and took a deep breath before reaching out and grabbing the hand in hers and squeezing it as tight as she could.

When she let go, it didn't seem to have too much of an effect on Jojo. Jojo glanced down at her hand and turned it round and around. It was a little sore, but nothing more. She wrinkled her eyebrow and looked at the little girl in front of her. "That's it?" she said.

Cat stayed quiet. The little girl was sweating nerves.

Jojo looked at the girl. "No," she shook her head, and stood up again. "That's not right, at all. You ain't doing it like you had done it," she shook her finger at the little girl. She realized that Cat was still scared of her in some way. The Powerpuff was nervous, too. Somehow she needed this young kid to express the anger that she had that day.

After all, that's how Jojo discovered her own power. She was angry, and she embraced it. She focused on it, and it just came out of her.

Cat had done that the other day… but somehow it was something that went unnoticed. Maybe it had not been in its full potential? Or maybe the girl was so angry she just didn't notice whatever had happened? However it happened, Jojo was sure that it happened.

She scratched her chin for a bit and plotted. Finally, she had an idea.

"You know, Cat. I'm not too sure you're cut out for this. Maybe you're not right to be a villain," Jojo said looking away from the girl and turning her back towards her.

Cat's eyes widened and she stared at the back of the villain. She vigorously shook her head, but Jojo could not see this.

"I know you said you were interested, but let's face it… you have no idea what being a villain involves. At least being a true villain, that is."

Cat began to move to a spot where Jojo could see her, but Jojo turned again, ignoring the young kid.

"And like I said," Jojo continued, "This place is for villains. So you're going to have to leave now. Sorry, Kiddo. I really wanted this to work out, but you just don't seem to fit in here. What can I say? You just don't have what it takes."

Cat glared at the villain. "You're not even going to give me a chance?" she thought to herself. She flew again to try and get in front of the villain. She had to try and tell her side. In order to do that, Jojo had to be able to see her, of course. But as soon as she got in front of the villain, she turned around again, and now began to head towards the door.

"You have to be strong, and powerful, quick and smart. And when I think about it, Kid, you ain't none of those things. Not to mention your disability. I guess it was the right decision on your mom's part to get you out of the business. It is too dangerous for you to be in battle. I can't risk that either, now that I think about it. Face it, Kiddo, this ain't the field for you. You don't belong- hero or villain."

As the villain walked towards the door, the young Puff flew around her, trying to get her attention so she could get some sort of say in this decision, but the villain ignored her.

Cat could feel the desperation build up inside her. And then that desperation turned into frustration. And that frustration turned into anger. And that anger built up more and more, the more and more she was ignored by Jojo.

Cat threw herself in front of the door, blocking Jojo's exit. Jojo simply grabbed the kid by her arm and tossed her aside to the ground. "Excuse me," she said nastily, "but I have work to do."

Cat glared at her from where she sat on the floor. She felt her body shaking from what was inside her. She felt like she was going to explode. It was as if someone was stuffing her with fire, and there was just too much inside her now to all fit right. She shut her eyes tightly and listened to herself screaming loudly inside her own head.

She opened her eyes and focused on Jojo. She wanted to hurt her. Badly. To think, she was beginning to actually like the villain. But no. She was a good for nothing. Just like everyone else, she ignored Cat. And because she built her up just to be ignored, it drove Cat crazy.

"She won't even look at me," Cat said to herself in her mind. "She doesn't care. No one cares. Why would she act like she cares if she doesn't? She's a liar. Just like Mom. Just like everyone. No one cares. She won't look at me. She won't listen to me. She's ignoring me. What makes her think I'm not worth listening to?"

She had it. She screamed at Jojo as loud as her invisible voice could scream and stabbed her little finger in the villain's direction : "YOU IDIOT!"

She did not expect her voice to be heard by anyone else but herself, but at that moment, just as Jojo reached towards the doorknob, she grasped her head by her ears and yelped loudly in pain.

She fell to the ground, crippled. She grasped onto her head so tightly, her fingernails dug into her scalp and skin. Jojo bit her tongue trying not to scream. Her mouth filled with the taste of blood as she bit down harder and harder, trying to bear the pain.

Her head filled with this piercing noise. Like a hundred voices combined into one, it screamed at her. She could feel her head fill up like a glass of water- of what, she didn't know? Maybe the sound itself, or blood, or her own melting brain matter, or all three. Whatever it was, it filled up her head, which throbbed in an excruciating way.

To Jojo, the entire world around her shook violently in a massive earthquake. And she pried her eyes open to stare at the little girl that just glared at her, seemingly quiet, with just a finger pointed at her.

She strained to look, but when her eyes finally focused enough, she could see these faint, yellow waves radiating from that little Puff's finger. The tiny ripples traveled towards Jojo slowly, and they grew larger, the closer they got. They reached her and consumed her, and made everything scream and shake.

Jojo was both impressed, and terrified.

Princess rushed over to Jojo and grabbed the villain by her shoulders and shook her. From where she sat, all she had seen was Cat point at Jojo and suddenly, Jojo was on the ground, screaming in pain, and she had yet to stop. "Joey? Joey? What the hell is the matter with you?"

Jojo could not hear anything above the yellow noise around her. She felt herself growing tired. She noticed her sight began to fade.

Princess stared at Jojo and saw that she began to grow pale. She looked over at Cat who still had her finger pointed at her lover. She got up and rushed over to the little girl and swatted her finger down. "Put that away, you little brat! What the hell are you doing to her?"

As soon as Princess slapped her hand away, Cat lost her focus. She then realized that Jojo was on the ground in front of her, in a lot of pain. She had seen it all happened, but for some reason, she thought that it was only in her head… just like her voice had always been only in her head.

She looked at her hand and noticed that it glowed a slight yellowish color. She realized then that she had actually managed to hurt Jojo, and sat there staring in shock as Princess rushed over to her again.

Princess shook Jojo once more, who was still curled up in a little ball with her hands over her ears. "Jojo? Goddammit, isn't it over?"

But it wasn't. Jojo could tell that the attack was done. The screaming was gone; the waves around her were gone too. But everything still shook. There was a loud ringing in place of the screaming in her ears. And her head still felt full of noise, blood and melted brain matter- ready to burst. She could hear Princess talking to her, but she could not respond. Her mind was too overwhelmed and she had forgotten how to formulate sentences. She couldn't see. Her already damaged sight was gone. Everything was a blurred mess of colors. She could see red and yellow in front of her, and knew it was Princess, but it took a while to connect, and even still she couldn't bring herself to react in anyway. It was like she was paralyzed.

Cat stared in horror. She heard the pain she poured into Jojo's head. She heard it, and felt it, too. Only it was like this muted feeling and sound. She knew it was supposed to be a thousand times louder and feel a thousand times stronger, but to her, it was like a distant thing. Obviously, whatever it was that came out of her, shot at Jojo with the full effect. She just didn't realize it at the time. The volume and intensity seemed to increase towards the end, but Princess had interrupted it before it had the chance to do anything to Cat herself.

Jojo shut her eyes tightly and shook her head vigorously. Slowly, it began to all fade. She sat up slowly. It felt like the world had been slowed down around her. At least it wasn't shaking anymore. Everything was heavy and it took her a while to do or think anything. Her head slowly began to clear and her sight was less of a blur. She looked over at Princess who sighed with relief when she saw that Jojo's color had returned in her face again.

The villain still grasped her head with one hand, as everything eventually became quiet around her. "Princess?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"You didn't hear that did you?"

"No…"

"Didn't think so," Jojo rubbed at her eyes, as her vision returned to normal. "Baby, go and get me a glass of water, would you?"

Princess nodded and rushed off. Jojo looked over at Cat who still sat on the ground across from her, with her jaw dropped. Jojo smiled a little. "Well, I guess you just proved me wrong, didn't ya?"

Cat stared at the villain, who climbed slowly to her feet. She walked over to Cat and kneeled down to her level again. She offered her a hand: "Welcome to the Villain's Movement, Kid."

Cat grinned, feeling proud of herself. She knew right then that she had just discovered her own special power. Her mom had told her that it was time to give up, and that it was okay. "You're really just a little more special for not having one, Cat," Blossom told her. What a lie. She must have known about this strength; how couldn't she? She had her own special power. She really did. And it was even greater than her sisters.

Cat's grin got a little bigger as she took Jojo's hand.

Jojo began to help the child to her feet, when suddenly there was a loud crash through the ceiling. She pulled Cat to her feet and looked.

Blossom, Cherry and Candy had arrived.